Radical new sources vital for Supply Chain continuity

Radical new sources vital for Supply Chain continuity

To make sure your supply chain will remain in the best possible shape, it is vital to hire, train, retain and commit the best possible people for the positions you have or will have. Most organizations have set up one or more routes to hire the best candidates. The danger, however, is that we keep looking for these crucial talents in the same spots we’ve been looking for them for years and years. Are you sure that the sources you have now are delivering optimal candidates? And what will that situation be in 5 years?

Over the years the quality of education at universities fluctuates. At first the curriculum is cutting edge, but do the professors keep up with developments? And what about your own company? Will the profiles of candidates you’re looking for today be the same in 5 years? Just think of your own job. Is your job-profile the same as 5 years ago? Would you be hired based on your own resume from 5 years ago?

So many uncertainties, yet the future of your department or company depends on it. Lesson #1 for me at high school on economics was: ‘People are your most valuable assets.’ Yet, what do we see over a large range of companies? Fashion people hire fashion people, automotive people hire automotive people, etc. Ever tried to get a job in an industry that you haven’t worked in before? Almost impossible. We hire the same people, who have performed the tasks we want them to do for at least a few years. and we think it is a plus if they have worked for our competitors. And because everyone is hiring the same people, their demanded wages will increase with every interview they have. We do the same, over and over again, probably mostly because it imposes the least possible restraint on you and your teams or because ‘that is how it’s done in your industry’.

Now that doesn’t make sense at all! The people who have performed the same job for your competitor are often the worst possible individuals to fill your positions. Ask yourself:

Why did your competitor let them go?

Why do they leave that job? Definitely not to be doing something similar for the competition (unless you’re paying double)

Your department or company will benefit enormously if you hire people that are puzzled by how things work in your company and aren’t afraid to open the discussion. Because that will make you think of that as well. And that will improve learning of your new staff AND will potentially improve your processes. In my work I am connected to hundreds of universities worldwide and their SCM departments. I meet professors, teachers and students in all parts of this world and am often baffled by the results of their efforts in our simulations.

Through our Global Student Challenges I can see how their students do compared to others. We have finalists from all over the world and in the top 20 ranking are countries/ universities that you will not expect. We have had students from countries like Colombia, Peru, Vietnam, Pakistan, Russia, Spain, etc. outperform everybody else. And more importantly: They have ‘the fire’. They are ambitious, they all have a career-path in mind, will bring bright new insights to their job and are willing to give everything up to come work for you in your company. I am also in touch with (large) corporates in countries like the USA, Canada, Northern Europe, etc. They deploy complete campus recruitment teams and organize local events to help them find the talent they need in 5 or 10 years to keep the lead in their supply chain. The average cohort of Supply chain graduates is perhaps only 20 to 40 students per university, some may be well above that number, but not many. So if you recruit from 20 universities, you may have reach towards 400 to 800 students every year.

And remember, your competition is recruiting there as well. And so is your customer and your supplier… So, maybe instead of spending 100s of thousands of dollars on campus recruitment every year, how about you extending your reach to other countries or continents even? It is time, to get out of your comfort zone and look at a broader set of sources for your talents if you want to have the best performing supply chain in the future.

If I can be of help, let me know!

Jochum Reuter is Director Sales & Marketing of the Education division at Inchainge bv. He leads the sales of simulations The Fresh Connection and The Cool Connection towards universities and colleges globally. His department hosts 2 Global Student Challenges yearly in which on average 3,000 students participate from 90 countries. Jochum is also committed to CSCMP as the Benelux Roundtable’s marketing chair and member of the European Strategic Advisory committee

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